Art on Track delivers artistic ride on the CTA

August 06, 2010|By Lauren Viera, Tribune reporter

Doing time on the CTA is seldom an experience we look forward to. On the days when we're already running late, we'll wind up standing closer to a stranger than we sleep next to our partners. And the days we're not late are always the ones when we're marooned on a slow-moving car full of Sox or Cubs (or Bulls, Bears or Hawks) fans drunk on their victory — or drunker on their defeat — under the false assumption that you'd love to hear all about it.

Fortunately, Art on Track saves the CTA's reputation as a vehicle for annoyance. Once a year, the one-night-only art exhibition is installed throughout an eight-car CTA train and rides the rail as a vehicular gallery in which gawkers are along for the ride. The mix of galleries is eclectic, from respectable River North mainstays (Addington Gallery) to indie printmakers (Spudnik Press) and apartment galleries (LVL3). Produced by the local artists non-profit SALVO, the event runs all evening, with four hop-on, hop-off points in the Loop and stops along the way for passengers to switch cars for fun. 5-10 p.m. Saturday, with entrance at Adams and Wabash CTA platform, between 200 and 220 S. Wabash St. $10; 312-265-8373; chicagoartontrack.com